1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic component and a method for manufacturing an electronic component, and in particular, relates to a method for manufacturing an electronic component, including a step of grinding electrical elements or boards, and an electronic component manufactured by the manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-100587 discloses the following method for manufacturing a solid-state imaging device. First, grooves of a predetermined depth are formed in a wafer having a plurality of solid-state imaging elements formed on a front surface thereof, so as to define each solid-state imaging element. Then, as shown in the left-hand portion of FIG. 3, the wafer 60 and a board 50 are joined to each other via spacers 70 which enclose the solid-state imaging elements. After the wafer 60 and the board 50 are joined to each other, the wafer 60 is ground on a back side thereof to form the solid-state imaging elements into individual pieces. Then, the board 50 is diced to produce individual solid-state imaging devices.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-332654 discloses the following method for manufacturing a module including an electrical element. First, an electrical element 81 having an electrical element formed on a front surface thereof is flip-chip bonded onto a wiring board 90 via bumps 82 and sealed with a thermosetting resin 100. Then, the back surface of the electrical element 81 and the thermosetting resin 100 are ground simultaneously to reduce the height.
In the solid-state imaging device manufacturing method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-100587, during grinding of the wafer 60, a physical load is applied from a grinding stone to the wafer 60 not only in the vertical direction but also in the horizontal direction. When the grinding of the wafer 60 progresses and the solid-state imaging elements are divided to define individual pieces, a sufficient retaining force is not applied to each solid-state imaging element in the horizontal direction, and thus the electrical elements are likely to be separated from the spacers 70 due to the horizontal load from the grinding stone, as shown in FIG. 3 (the right-side diagram).
In the electrical element-included module manufacturing method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-332654, when the electrical element 81 is ground, not only the electrical element 81 but also the thermosetting resin 100 are ground simultaneously. Thus, due to a horizontal physical load during the grinding, the interface between the side surface of the electrical element 81 and the thermosetting resin 100 is likely to be separated to produce a gap (A in FIG. 4). When a gap is produced between the side surface of the electrical element 81 and the thermosetting resin 100, moisture and the like enter the gap and hence the weather resistance of the electrical element-included module deteriorates.